Venezuela condemns Trump's "colonialist threat" by closing airspace

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (KUNA) -- Venezuela has condemned as "colonialist threat" US President Donald Trump's announcement that airspace of the Latin American country would be closed amidst American threats to launch ground operation on Venezuelan soil.
The Foreign Ministry, in a post on Telegram, said it "denounces and condemn the colonialist threat that seeks to undermine the sovereignty of its airspace, constituting a new extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela." It categorically repudiated Trump's public message in which he pretends to "extraterritorially apply the illegitimate jurisdiction of the US in Venezuela, by astonishingly attempting to give orders and threatening the sovereignty of he national airspace, territorial integrity, aviation security, and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan State." It considered Trump's statement as "hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act, incompatible with the most basic principles of international law," which was clearly and unequivocally prohibited by the UN Charter.
The Foreign Ministry demanded utmost respect of its airspace, reaffirming that the 1944 Chicago Convention, Article one of which categorically recognized that "every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory." Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, in a post on Facebook last night, said the army would defend the people and the nation.
Lopez announced few days ago deployment of over 170,000 forces amidst fears of an American ground operation. (end) asj.bs